What a Toddler Really Hears When You Talk

There's no manual handed to you when you are discharged from the hospital. You, your spouse, and brand new baby are just wheeled out to your car with your cart full of gifts, overnight bags, and (hopefully) free goodies from your hospital room without any type of tangible reference guide telling you what to do if your baby won't stop crying at 3am. Thank goodness for Google!

But there is one thing that not even Google can help parents out with and that is determining what is going on in your toddler's head. I tell my two year old one thing and he does the exact opposite. It can be incredibly frustrating. Just recently, however, I came across the holy grail of translation books: Parent-Toddler Translation for Exasperated Parents. Here, for your reading pleasure is an excerpt of said book.

What you said: "No."
What your toddler heard: "I didn't hear that. Say it again, only louder."

10 Things That Changed After Baby #2

I have always wanted two children. Two and done. One child for each hand. One child for each parent so we're not outnumbered. And here I am with my two wonderful children. As grateful I am, I can't help but think back to how simple life was with only one baby. Here's 10 ways life has totally changed after my second was born.

1. Snuggle time

Back when it was just K and me (and the cat), I spent hours just snuggling with her while she slept. I would just sit there and stare at her, breathing in her wonderful newborn smell. When R was born, there were no snuggle times to be had except for the times after the midnight feeding when everyone was asleep. I had a two year old who was in gymnastics, dance, and swim lessons. On top of that, I had errands to run, a house to keep in order, and mouths that preferred hot meals over cold cereal. Snuggle times with R weren't spent peacefully on the couch; they were spent with him asleep in the Ergobaby carrier strapped to me while I jugged daily life with a toddler.

9 Perks of Having Young Children

1. There's no need to have an alarm clock

My alarm clock...thank goodness he's cute

There's nothing that gets me out of bed quicker than the fear of my four year old being woken up by "MMOOOOOMMMMMMMMYYYYYYY" screeching out of my two year old's mouth at 6 o'clock in the morning. My son is up at 6am, sometimes earlier like this morning, every single day...6:30am if I'm lucky.

2. You'll always have time to work out

Flying Alone with Two Young Children

Last year, I decided to take a trip across the country from California to Ohio to visit family. Unfortunately, my husband was not able to join me so I had to make the trip on my own. Luckily, my parents were going to be in Ohio already so I would have some help once the plane landed. Here's how I got through the 4 1/2 hour flight with a three year old and a one year old by myself.

8 Easy and Cheap Frozen Themed Birthday Party Ideas

For my daughter's fourth birthday party, she requested a Frozen themed party. What? Shocker, I know. Being the crafty, Pinterest lover that I am, I immediately started pinning everything related to Frozen themed birthday parties.  Here are eight easy and cheap ideas for a Frozen themed birthday party that I found.